Apple iPhone 6 vs Apple iPhone 6: Which is Worth Your Money?

Apple released the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in the September claiming that the Plus version will change everything about the new iPhones. Apple fans would be thinking what possible differences could be between iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus but there is more to it than what meets your eye.

We have drawn a layout of major differences between iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 to give you an idea about if the ‘S’ version would be a worthy upgrade. What you should bear in mind is that iPhone 6s was released a year after iPhone 6 was released, in the same month.

Design: Like the iPhones SE and iPhone 5s, the iPhones 6s and 6 are also identical on the design front. The iPhone 6 measures 138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm dimensions, weighing 129g whereas iPhone 6s is slightly heavier, weighing 143g with the same dimensions. The identical measurements aren’t a bad thing because the phone doesn’t have a sharp edge which offers an attractive design with zero-gap construction. This means, all ports, buttons, remain in the same place for both iPhone 6s and iPhone 6. In case you were wondering how could iPhone 6S weigh a little more than iPhone 6, that is because of the 3D Touch technology that comes with the ‘S’ version. Both the phones uses, lighter and stronger aluminium but iPhone 6S offers additional color Rose Gold along with Space Grey, Silver and other options for iPhone 6.

Display: Display features are also pretty identical for both phones as they carry 4.7 inch screen with LED backlit display with IPS technology, delivering the pixel intensity of about 326 ppi with a 1334 x 750 pixel resolutions. On the best market front, this display configuration is low level, also coming from the Apple; at least it should be able to compete with other major bosses which launch phones with 600ppi mark. Though we don’t and haven’t gotten much complaints about the displays of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 yet, the viewing angles are crisp and great; the colors aren’t that vibrant though. Also, the 3D touch feature is only present in the iPhone 6S but not in the iPhone 6. You should ask yourself whether 3D Touch should be a reason for you to upgrade to ‘S’ version. Yes, it is an innovative addition which helps you in reprogramming the way you use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and plenty other apps which support this technology.

Camera: Camera has gone through a major upgrade in iPhone 6S by coming with 12 MP rear from 8MP in iPhone 6. The bigger the camera, the better the 4K recording, the better and clearer picture quality output. The front camera is also no less. From 1.2 MP in iPhone 6 , it has gone to 5 MP selfie camera in iPhone 6S. What tops up this upgrade is the retina flash which analyses the hue of the white in the shot and doubles up the flash accordingly. The slow motion capture from the rear camera is also quite better than iPhone 6 compared to iPhone 6s. Other features like auto HDR capture, auto image stabilization, burst and timer mode are same in both the phones.

Hardware: What would make the ‘S’ version better without a hardware upgrade, right? The A8 chipset with 1GB of RAM in the iPhone 6 is competing with the A9 chipset with 2GB of RAM in the iPhone 6s, which has advanced integration, always-on motion, with an additional co-processor which is absent in A8 chipset. In terms of storage, we all know Apple doesn’t offer an external storage option but in addition to the 16 GB and 64 GB variants of iPhone 6, the iPhone 6s comes with a 128 GB variant also. So if you need more storage, you can splurge a little more money to grab a 128 GB iPhone 6s.

Software: iOS 9 was first rolled out in the debuted iPhone 6 in the preview held in WWDC in the month of June. iOS 9 was brought to all of us with new features like improvements in Siri and search, added transit to Maps. iPhone 6 on the other hand comes with iOS 8 from the box, but is upgradable to iOS 9. So to gain the software experience as smooth as in iPhone 6s for iPhone 6, you have to go through a manual process of upgrading the OS. The software experience would be almost the same except for 3D Touch and Live Photos.

Battery: Both the phones carry non-removable batteries, but the iPhone 6s has a Li-pro 1715 battery which is lesser than iPhone 6 which sports 1810 mAh battery. This could come as a big difference to you in the configuration front, but the standby hours are more or less the same for both the phones. Average 240 hours in iPhone 6s and 250 hours in iPhone 6. The music play and talk time are respectively same in both the phones, 14 hours and 50 hours respectively. Apple could have brought a better battery performance in the “S” version which could have been better than its predecessor. At least same as that, but the lesser config makes many nod a ‘no’ because Apple users die for a better battery that could last at least a day without a second time charging.

Conclusion: Despite some identical features, iPhone 6s manages to score more than iPhone 6 in performance level in all feature front. By now, you would have got a rough idea about where to splurge your savings for Apple love. If you are iPhone 5s user, opt for iOS 6s so that it will give you heaps of new features which makes you feel like you are actually owning a whole another phone. Even iPhone 6 users can opt for iPhone 6s as you can get to have a hand on in new technology such as 3D Touch and Live Photos, although I would although suggest you to wait for iPhone 7.

About Pratik Kulkarni

Pratik Is a Mechanical Engineer with a Master's in Business Administration (Marketing). Currently working as a Research Associate (ICT Domain), for Acute Global Market Reports Pvt. Ltd. His work area focuses on designing research processes and measurement tools to prepare comprehensive industry research. Design forward-looking competitive strategies and market analysis through primary and secondary research. Managing the delivery of insightful and original industry/company analysis in both quantitative and qualitative forms and taking responsibility for their production to publishable standards.